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The Mesoamerican ball game is the oldest known team sport in the world. It was practiced by ancient Pre-Columbian cultures of Central America and played almost a millennium before the establishment of the first Greek Olympic Games . A fast-paced, often brutal game tied in with religious ritual, contestants often lost their lives and human sacrifices were regular occurrences.

From ancient times until the Spanish conquest in the 16 th century, the sport was not just a game but a major part of Mesoamerican culture played by the Olmec, Mayan and Aztec civilizations.

To the Mayans, it was known as Pok a Tok, to the Aztec it was Tlachtli. Today it is called Ulama. The Mesoamerican ball game was a game where the action reached unimaginable levels of violence even by today’s standards. Serious injury was common as players dove onto stone courts to keep a ball in play and would end the game bloodied and bruised. When the high-speed movement of a heavy flying ball hit a player, it could cause internal bleeding to unprotected body zones and sometimes death.

Believed to have extended as far south as Paraguay and north into present day Arizona, the earliest known Mesoamerican ball court is Paso de la Amada in Mexico, which has been radiocarbon dated to around 3600 years old. This places it historically between the Mokaya and Olmec cultures and only a few hundred years after the early hunter-gatherers had settled into stable residential communities.

Roughly 1,300 Mesoamerican ball courts have been discovered and almost all the main Mesoamerican cities of antiquity had at least one. The Classic Maya city of Chichen Itzá had the largest – the Great Ballcourt, which measures 96.5 meters long (315 feet) and 30 meters wide (98 feet). By comparison, the Ceremonial Court at Tikal (in modern day Guatemala) is 16 meters by 5 meters and smaller than a tennis court. The Olmec courts were the size of a modern day football field and when seen from an aerial view, looked like a capital “I” with two perpendicular end zones at the top and bottom. They were lined with stone blocks and played on a rectangular court with slanted walls. These walls were often plastered and brightly painted. Serpents, jaguars, raptors were depicted alongside images of human sacrifice suggesting a connection to the divinity.

The exact rules of the game are unknown since the evidence available is garnered from the interpretations made from sculptures, art, ball courts, and glyphs. Some interpretations suggest that plays were spread out along the court and the ball was passed at a fast rate. Teams seemed to vary in size from two to six players and the object was to hit a solid rubber ball across a line. On each side of a playing alley were two long parallel walls against which a rubber ball was resounded and bounced from each team. This is similar to the game of volleyball except for the fact that players had to use their hips to return the ball and there was no net (the ball had to cross a line). The ball also had to be kept in motion, without touching the ground and in some versions of the game could not be hit with hands or feet. Later on, the Maya added two stone hoops or rings in the center of the court on either side. When a player did manage to get a ball through a ring, that usually ended the game. Points were also scored when opposing ball players missed a shot at the vertical hoops placed at the center point of the side walls, were unable to return the ball to the opposing team before it had bounced a second time, or allowed the ball to bounce outside the boundaries of the court. The team with the most points won.

The large rubber ball used could weigh up to three to eight pounds and had a diameter around 25 to 37 centimeters (10 to 12 inches). This was about the size of a basketball except that the ball was more solid on the inside and could weigh a lot more. Because of this, it could inflict major bruises and if it hit someone in the wrong place hard enough, could kill them. Due to these dangers, players eventually began wearing equipment. The needs and style varied over time but most commonly, headdresses or helmets were worn to protected the head, quilted cotton pads covered the elbows and knees and stone belts known as yokes were worn around the waist or chest. These yokes or “yugos” were used to hit and pass the ball and were elaborately decorated.

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Bryan Hill

Bryan graduated with a Bachelor of Art in History from Suffolk University and has a background in museum volunteering and as well as working with children rsquo s groups at the Museum of Science and the National Park Service He... Read More

I am doing a project on the differences in the Mayan and Aztec versions of the game. I would love it if I could interview you to get more information on the game. I understand if you don't want to do the interview, but I would appreciate any response. Thanks.

Thank you for your comment. The author no longer writes for Ancient Origins and as such is not available for interview, however if you’d like more information feel free to contact me at lizleafloor(at)ancient-origins.net , or you can search our site (search bar top left) for articles and information on the Maya and Aztec ball games.

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